Breaking: Former WWE Champion leaving SmackDown Live

By Anutosh Bajpai -
September 1, 2017

Former WWE Champion JBL has announced that he’ll be stepping away from his role as the commentator for the SmackDown Live Brand. Though he is not parting ways with the company completely and he’ll still be making appearances at marquee events such as WrestleMania.

He gave this news via a statement posted on his twitter account in which he revealed that he is leaving the commentary role so he can dedicate more time to at-risk youth and communities in Bermuda:

“After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more continuous time on the work I have done since 2010 with at risk kids and communities. My new schedule will allow me to continue to be a part of the WWE family and also continue my work that I feel is the most important thing in my life. I will continue my 20+ year relationship with WWE and will appear on such marquee shows as Tribute to the Troops, WrestleMania, amongst others.”

Currently, it’s not known if JBL will stop appearing on weekly WWE Programming immediately or if he will wait till the company can find a replacement for him for the Blue Brand. The full statement of JBL can be seen below:

After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more (cont) https://t.co/An7zuYRFmV